6/27/10

This recent trip to Montreal, for any who might not already know, wasn't just another vacation (though it seems I've been doing a lot of that lately). This time RB and I flew out of Edmonton with a purpose: to look for and find an apartment in Montreal. Because, you see, we're moving out east. Like, in a month.

Of course leaving Edmonton will be hard, all my friends and family and memories live here. Nevertheless, I'm excited about the move and what it means for us. Being in a new city feels invigorating, it gives me a chance to re-invent myself and take a hard look at my life, at the baggage I've been carrying, at who I am and how I can be better. It gives me an excuse for adventure and discovery and to push & challenge myself like I don't feel I do much of in Edmonton these days.

On a more superficial level it forces me to downsize and get rid of all this stuff I've been carrying around for years. To cleanse myself of junk and then re-fill my home, piece by piece, with lasting things that i love. No more ikea quick-fixes or half-functional hand-me-downs. A (mostly) clean slate.

Of course just to torture myself before the move, I did stop by the antique mall this weekend with an eye to furnishing our new home. You know, just as space and money become precious.

Surely we could find room in our U-haul for one or both of these Bertoia chairs? Admittedly these are pricey suckers but, c'mon, they're modern classics!

And what of this wild boar's head from Pennsylvania? Beautiful in it's disgusting glory. Guess how far RB would let me get into the house with this gem? Yeah, not very.

Who doesn't need an antique planetarium orrery? I mean, this is useful stuff.

Likewise this Boss-themed jukebox.

Ok, I don't really want or need a Boss-themed jukebox, but I thought a certain someone might appreciate it.

While visiting Montreal last week RB and I stayed at our friend Jeff's house, just a few blocks away from the wonderful Jean-Talon outdoor market. The Marche Jean-Talon is a paradise of fresh, local foods: seasonal fruits and vegetables, artisanal cheeses, cured meats, live lobster, maple syrup, sugar pie, flowers, herbs and plants, ice cream, olives, nuts and savory middle eastern pastries. Stalls selling fresh wares are set up outside and surrounded by small specialty fruit shops, fromageries, Mexican taquerias, bakeries, fishmongers and Romanian butchers. Guess who was in heaven?

For under $10 we made a delicious dinner of sauteed baby potatoes, grilled asparagus with fresh garlic, homemade basil pesto, and a sweet salad of baby greens. Oh, and I bought a just-baked sugar maple pie which we then decimated in short order. Yummy, yummy Montreal.

6/24/10

I'm in Montreal right now, visiting friends and taking care of some business. Tuesday night RB and I visited Genevieve and Jon and Pipi at their new apartment in NDG. I love their place, it's big and bright and open and sure to be conducive to all manner of creativity. I (for one) had a lot of fun and I think Raymond reveled in his new role as Pipi's godfather.

Here kitty kitty.....

We ended up staying the night and dragged our butts home early the next morning after waking to glorious sunshine and less-than-glorious rush-hour traffic.

Hopefully we can see Jon and Genevieve again today to celebrate St Jean Baptiste Day!

6/23/10

This funeral spray by the Salt Lake City designer Sarah Winward is amazing. So inspiring and nice to see. I love how fluid and natural it is. The flower choices are so clever and inventive and I love the colours of it all. Very glad to have found this talented floral designer.Thanks to Chelsea of {Frolic!} for the great find.

6/22/10

Elizabeth and I have very similar tastes in a lot of things. I especially know that in the matter of Paul Simon I can speak for both of us (just look at Elizabeth's profile photo) and proclaim his brilliance. I've been listening to our Graceland LP over and over all week. I've been going on and on to anyone who will listen about all the monumental aspects of this unique album. Just watch these two performances from his '87 concert in South Africa. (Then go to YouTube and watch all the other videos from that concert)Would I be right to imagine that this album only further fueled (if not stimulated in the first place) your obsessions with Africa, Elizabeth?

I'm currently practicing my Paul Simon dance moves for a co-worker's birthday party on Thursday -- it's going to be amazing. Hand gestures!

6/20/10

6/16/10

I should show you some of the things I bought for myself while we were in Europe, but here are the little thank-yous I got for my co-workers. World famous Ladurée macarons. Of course since I was in Paris at the beginning of the trip, I waited and actually bought them from Harrods in London (same thing!) It was such a beautiful, feminine cafe -- I had to go back and buy some for myself too.

The flavours I had for myself were: lily of the valley (not shown in this one, but they were a very light green colour), chocolate, rose, coffee, orange blossom, and of course, pistachio. I would like some more s'il vous plaît.

6/15/10

The past few weeks have been a real struggle. Not only have I been spending an excessive amount of time by myself, but I'm right in the midst of drafting my Spring 2011 collection and it's been killing me. The same problems I always encounter with a new collection are still prevalent - straying too far from my original concept, trying to find small sample quantities of notions etc. without having to plunk down a ton of cash for many more than I need, over-thinking everything & not trusting my instincts, the overwhelming fear of cutting sample fabric before I'm really ready to, the overwhelming fear of spending money, trying to make too many things, losing focus......

This time has been extra hard what with R out of town and Genevieve, my ever-trusted critic, having moved recently to Montreal. It really has been a lonely, slogging immersion in the creative process which, I've realized, is not entirely healthy for me. People often ask me how the collection is coming along and I catch myself thinking "goddamn you, how dare you even deign to ask when you know I'm in the plodding depths of creative despair?" Of course this rivals my other favorite thought which is "goddamn you, how dare you not even bother to ask when you know I'm in the plodding depths of creative despair?" Feelings are confusing.

R finally got home on the weekend and I'm starting to feel better about things. Even keeping a regular schedule again helps. Monday I had a great day of drafting and I'm beginning to feel like a collection is finally emerging from this creative no man's land I've been swimming in for weeks. So I say.

My Patterns are always such a mess when I'm through with them. Of course some people don't care, they'll sleep on anything:

6/10/10

6/9/10

My mother's backyard this past weekend was more lush than than you could imagine, given the prairie weather. It was so nice to go home and see everyone. I love wandering around back there and letting her show me all her growing seedlings and changing landscapes.

They have been eating fresh spinach and lettuce for the last two months thanks to their new home-made cold frames! Quite the feat when you consider it was still snowing infrequently up until a couple weeks ago.

All the many construction projects of the back yard are finally almost complete, which means this year they get to just sit back and watch it all grow.

6/8/10

6/7/10

I was going to go to my Mom's house for dinner Sunday but decided to stay home and cook instead. I had some left-over caviar from pizza I made earlier in the week so, obviously, I threw myself a blini party.

I love food that you get to assemble as you go. Perhaps later this week I'll throw myself a tamaki party.

6/6/10

Saturday was our Nana and Poppa's 60th wedding anniversary. We drove out to Camrose for a BBQ celebration with friends and family and enjoyed a laughter-filled afternoon in the prairie sunshine. It was the perfect day for a party.

I love the story of Red and Fran's romance. He, a young veterinary student in Guleph, she the college receptionist. They got married the day he graduated and honeymooned on the way back to his family's Alberta farm (running out of money and subsisting off of oranges along the way, so I've heard.) I know too little of their story, I wish I had it all written here in front of me. Poppa still tells of the first time he saw her and how she was the sweetest thing he'd ever seen. He knew that he was going to marry her someday. I've talked with my mom recently and often about the very exquisite and obvious love these two shared (and share), Poppa coming home from work tired and dirty, Nana cooking away in the kitchen for a large family and various drop-in friends; he would still always pull her away, sit her down on his lap like a girl and kiss and hold her, openly cherish her like a first love. To me they are the example of marital bliss - best friends, clever communicators, sublime sparring partners and always, delightfully, affectionate.

Mary came to town for the event and I got a deliciously rare chance to hang out with her and our brother Patrick at the same time. Funny how in this context I regress once again into a sly bully, Patrick becomes my clever henchman and then Mary shoots us both down with her confidence and wit. Dammit, she never was good at giving in.